Chanel Cleeton’s latest Cuban historical, The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, covers the remarkable real-life story of Evangelina, a young Cuban noble woman who became an “overnight celebrity” in a bitter New York circulation war that birthed the world of newspaper tabloid journalism we see today.br /

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Hi there, I'm your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Chanel talks about the birth of yellow journalism and the role the Cuban War of Independence in the 1890s played in its creation. It's a colorful story, poignant, with lots of human emotion and larger than life characters, like William Randolph Hearst and his bitter rival Joseph Pulitzer.br /

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Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:br /

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The special pleasure in writing her family's storyEvangelina's remarkable influenceHow intense Press Baron rivalry helped spark a warThe role of female stunt journalists in sensationalizing newsThe wonderful camaraderie of the Reese Witterspoon clubMore Perez family stories to comebr /

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Where to find Chanel Cleeton: br /

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chanelcleeton/br /

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorChanelCleeton/br /

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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7383025.Chanel_Cleetonbr /

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Bookbub:  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/chanel-cleetonbr /

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Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Chanel-Cleeton/e/B00G1BWPD2br /

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What follows is a near as transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.br /

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But now, here’s Chanel.br /

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Introducing author Chanel Cleetonbr /

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Chanel Cleeton - Reese Witterspoon Book Club selectionbr /

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Jenny Wheeler: Welcome back, Chanel. It's great to talk with you again.br /

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Chanel Cleeton: Thank you so much for having me again. I'm thrilled to be here.br /

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Jenny Wheeler: For those who weren't with us then, you were on the show in 2019 with your first Cuban historical, Next Year in Havana, which had the distinction of being a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Choice. Now you've got your third Cuban historical out, The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba.br /

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These books are wonderful. You're digging back into your own heritage with these stories., aren't you? Tell us a little bit about your family links with Cuba.br /

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Chanel Cleeton: I'm Cuban American. My family came over from Cuba in 1967 after the revolution in 1959. They came to the United States as refugees, and I grew up on their memories of Cuba and their love for their homeland, and so it’s been fascinating for me to be able to explore that part of my heritage and learn new things about Cuban history as I go back in time and imagine what my ancestors’ lives might have been like.br /

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Jenny Wheeler: This book draws more heavily on true events than the earlier ones did, and it reveals some harrowing information about the way the Cuban population suffered in the War of Independence in the late 19th century. Did knowing that it was your family’s shared experience give this period a special interest and poignancy for you?br /

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Chanel Cleeton: It really did. It was one of those things where I asked my grandfather about it and if he had heard anything, because it's something my great-grandparents would have lived through. Unfortunately, I don't know what my family's experiences were like during that time period, but it definitely made me interested to imagine what it would have been like for them in such heightened and also important times in Cuban history.br /

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The real Evangelina Cisnerosbr /

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